Date

Breadcrumb

Random House

It’s official: Penguin and Random House are betrothed, their parent companies Pearson and Bertelsmann announced today.

As is often the case with arranged marriages, it is hoped that this union will allow the two houses to consolidate their power: together, the book publishers are expected to control over one quarter of the U.S. and British markets, and to generate approximately £2.5 billion (or $4 billion) in annual revenue.

And as with so many weddings these days, theirs is “subject to regulatory approval;” if all goes well, they will likely tie the knot in the latter half of 2013.

The idea of huddling together was no doubt influenced by the increasing need for publishers to puff out their chests against retailing giant Amazon, which has cornered 90 percent of the UK ebook market, and nearly 40 percent of the market for all books, according to Quartz.